Federal Court agrees with Attorney General Alan Wilson and 19 other states by blocking Oregon law that tramples religious freedom and parents’ rights

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced today that the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed with him and 19 other states and has blocked an Oregon law that required foster and adoptive parents to affirm LGBTQ+ ideology.

“This is a big win for parents’ rights, religious freedom, and free speech,” Attorney General Wilson said. “When there are children in need of foster homes, a state shouldn’t disqualify foster parents just because they refuse to disavow their religious beliefs.”

The case started when Oregon’s Department of Human Services issued rules to require anybody, including religious people, to swear an oath to “respect,” “accept,” and “support” the “sexual orientation,” “gender identity,” and “gender expression” of foster children in order to be considered as a foster parent.

Jessica Bates applied to adopt children, but the state rejected her application under the policy, since, based on her sincerely held religious beliefs, she objected to using adopted children’s preferred pronouns or taking them to medical appointments for gender transitions. As a result of her religious beliefs, Bates was prohibited from adopting any child in the state’s care, even those who do not identify as LGBTQ+.

She sued the state of Oregon over its rules. In May 2024, South Carolina, along with 18 other state attorneys general and the Arizona State legislature, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Bates in asking the Court to block the rules.

A District Court refused to block the rules, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9^th Circuit issued an opinion to enjoin Oregon’s rules, agreeing with the plaintiff and the states. The 9^th Circuit ruled that Bates was likely to win on the merits of her free speech and free exercise of religion claims, ordering the district court to prohibit Oregon from deeming her ineligible for certification as an adoptive parent.

You can read the opinion here.